


Bumps In The Night

by ChromeMist



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Grieving, Jean and Hitch are siblings, JeanMarco Gift Exchange, JeanMarco Gift Exchange 2019, M/M, Supernatural AU - Freeform, mentioned death, some smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:41:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21881689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChromeMist/pseuds/ChromeMist
Summary: A story about learning to let go, how to move on, and how to live with the things that go bump in the night.
Relationships: Marco Bott/Jean Kirstein
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11
Collections: JeanMarco Gift Exchange 2019





	Bumps In The Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [whipperschnapper](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whipperschnapper/gifts).



> Happy Holidays! This is my gift for the JeanMarco Gift Exchange 2019. It's my second year participating, and I had so much fun this year! This year, my Secret Santa is Whipperschnapper here on AO3. I don't know how this turned into hurt/comfort, but I hope you like it? I really liked your supernatural theme. I feel like I could expand on this more.

3 AM, like clockwork... Knock... Knock... Knock... Came slowly from somewhere in the hall. Jean peeled his sleepy eyes open and waited, counting to three under his breath. On three his door banged open and slammed shut, just the same as it had the past two nights. He listened to the half asleep grumbling and then snorted a short laugh as the body fwumped onto his bed.

"If it bothers you this much you can stay at a motel in town, ya know..." Jean said, closing his eyes and preparing to go back to sleep.  
"Every night so far Jean! What the hell?! I really thought it was just our imagination as kids!" Jean snorted again and curled back up on his side. The body next to him pounded the mattress and screeched in frustration as the slow knocking started again.

"You know now this shit wasn't our imagination." Jean mumbled.

"This is a lost cause. We should just burn down mom's house."

"We're not burning down my house, Hitch!" He raised his voice at his sister. "I really don't need your help going through mom's stuff. If there's something specific you want, tell me and I'll ship it to you. You can leave tomorrow and stop bitching at me about things I can't control in my own home."

"Okay drama queen, no need for a temper tantrum. But seriously, how do you live with this..." She cried, throwing her hands up and gesturing to the old room. "This noise?" She finished. 

Jean sighed, biting back his irritation. He had to remind himself that he had been living in their mother's old house for a year now. He had come to terms with the weirdness that they had chalked up to overactive imaginations or the house settling while growing up. Hitch was only just learning what was really out there, what their mother really had been.

"I ignore what needs to be ignored, and deal with what needs to be dealt with." He said simply. "We've had a long day though, can we just go back to sleep?"

"Yeah, sure." Hitch relented, curling up on her side facing away from her brother. "Are we going into the attic today?" She asked, a tinge of nervousness seeping into her voice.

"Fuck no, are you crazy?" He looked over his shoulder at his sister. She too turned and looked at him over her shoulder. "It's sealed for a reason. Whatever junk and other shit is up there stays up there."

"Sooo..." She drew the o out a second longer. "We're burning the house?"

"Hitch no!"

***  
The next day was just as busy as their last few days. Their mother hadn't been a hoarder by a long shot, but that did not mean she didn't have a lot of things. And many things just couldn't, or shouldn't, be moved.  
Luckily Jean had stumbled upon his mother's magick books and diary early on. He had had plenty of time to go through the books and learn her craft. He learned what to move, what not to move, and how to move things. So now, Jean and Hitch really only had to go through all of her non-magickal possessions.

Jean found himself in the late afternoon going through all her regular cookbooks. He knew Hitch wouldn't take anything from the kitchen. His sister's cooking skills came from great chefs, like Uber Eats and GrubHub. If she hadn't married a CEO of a Fortune 500 company, he was pretty sure she would be poor and starving by now.

Currently Hitch was in the garden, deciding if she wanted any plants or decorations for her landscapers to use. Jean had made a list for her of what could not be taken, so anything not on the list was fair game. Jean honestly wasn't too picky about what Hitch took. He loved his mother, but he had finally come to terms with her death and was ready to let go of her regular stuff. And he had grown to like all of the magickal items. Especially now that he was understanding everything. And especially now that he had help with learning it all.

Suddenly, Jean was brought out of his reverie by the sounds of yelping and his sister's shrill screeching. Abandoning the book on the counter, he ran out of the kitchen and burst onto the back patio. Jean came to a sudden stop at the small set of stairs that led into his garden. There in the main pathway was Hitch, brandishing a rake and yelling at a large black dog. The dog had shrunk back with it's tail tucked, whimpering and eyeing the rake warily. It was trying to duck low to the ground and slink around her to get to the house, but Hitch kept trying to shoo it away.

"Hitch wait, stop!" Jean yelled loudly, getting both his sister's and the dog's attention. At the sound of his voice the dog perked up, ears pricking forward and tail wagging happily. It tried to make another attempt at getting around Hitch, but she only thrust the rake at it again.

"No Jean! It's a Black Dog! Didn't mom's books say Black Dogs were a sign of bad luck and a bad omen?" The dogs ears laid flat against it's head at that.

"Um well..." Jean began, trying to think of how to word the explanation. "Usually yes. But they can also be familiars or guides. This one is fine though! He's been living with me for the last eight months." Jean sat down on the steps and gestured for the dog to approach. He skittered around Hitch who regarded him warily and came up next to Jean. The large dog laid down, resting his big head in Jean's lap and sighed. Jean smiled and scratched behind his ears, causing the dogs tail to thump happily on the wooden steps. 

"Well if he's your dog then where has he been? I've been here for like, three days!" Hitch cried, finally putting the rake down, only to put her hands on her hips and glare at the dog. "He better not be the source of all that damn racket at night!"

Jean sighed, rolling his eyes at her. "No, he's not making the noise. Dogs can't knock dummy." Hitch snorted. "And he hasn't been here because I don't own him. He's allowed to come and go as he pleases."

"Where does he go though?"

"I don't know Hitch. Usually out into the woods to hunt for us."

"He hunts for you?" She screeched.

"Well, yeah... It saves me money at the grocery store. Where do you think the deer carcass in the freezer in my basement came from? Did you think I killed that?"

"I tried not to think about it. Ugh gross."Jean laughed at the disgust in her face. "Ok you're not cooking for me." Jean laughed more.

"You don't even cook for yourself!"

"Why should I when I can get other people to do it for me?" Hitch retorted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm not other people?" Jean raised an eyebrow at her.

"No, you're my brother. That's worse." Jean chuckled lightly while Hitch regarded the garden. "Ok I think I'm done for the day. And since it's impossible to get any sleep here when people should normally be asleep, I'm going to go stay in town." Without another word she climbed the stairs,  
making sure to give the dog a wide berth.

Jean just tilted his head up to the sky and sighed. He felt the dog move to sit on the stairs facing him. He knew what it felt like now to be watched, but he never minded these set of eyes on him.

"I would wait until she leaves. With everything she's learning about Mom, she's up to three heart attacks a day. You can be one of them tomorrow." He grinned over at the dog. The dog just sighed and shook his head.

A few moments later he heard Hitch coming down the stairs, making a racket with her luggage. She popped her head out the backdoor briefly.  
"I'll come back tomorrow morning and finish the outside stuff. I'll text before I get here."

Jean turned around to acknowledge her. "Ok, we'll see you in the morning then." 

Hitch just looked at the dog, who stared back at her, and snorted before ducking her head back in the house and leaving. Jean and the dog waited until they heard a car start up and begin to drive away. Jean felt the now familiar shift beside him and turned to the dark haired man that was in the place where the dog had been.

"You don't own me, huh?" The smirk lifted freckled cheeks. Jean returned the look and simply leaned forward, pecking him lightly on the lips.

"Welcome home Marco."

Said man smiled gently. "It's good to be home."

"You really didn't have to leave though. For all my complaining, my sister isn't really that bad!"

"I know but I was nervous! You can't blame me for that. She didn't know about any of this." Marco gestured to the area around him. Jean followed his arm movements. In the fading sunlight, he could already see the small shadowy shapes flitting about in the garden. "I didn't want to compound all that with 'by the way do you remember my childhood friend? Yeah he's a shape shifting, ex familiar and we've been dating almost the entire time I've lived here.' That wasn't going to happen on her first day!"

Jean blinked as Marco's small ramble died down. He looked Marco dead in the eyes and simply said, "We could have waited a few days to tell her I'm a monster fucker..." The noise Marco made at that caused Jean to laugh as he got up from the stairs and started making his way back into the kitchen.

"I'm not a monster!"

"No, you're not. You're a perfectly normal person that just happens to know magick, shape shifts into a large black dog, and was once a familiar that I happen to be dating. Now come inside, perfectly normal person. We have a deer to break down so I can gross out Hitch tomorrow."

"""  
Jean grumbled later that night as he was brushing his teeth in their bathroom.

"Oh stop complaining." Marco sighed as he leaned on the door jam, watching Jean silently throw a fit. "It's not my fault you get all hot and bothered when I drag home our meat." Jean sighed around the mouthful of foam. Marco was, unfortunately, right. 

Usually when Marco brought home meat, they would break down the carcass right away to save on storage space and make it easier to cook with. Most of the time, Jean could keep his hands to himself until the job was done and they were clean, or in the shower getting clean. That time however, the sight of the furry love of his life dragging the biggest ten point buck Jean had ever seen through his garden had him climbing Marco like a tree the second he had shifted back to his human form. Marco had barely been able to get Jean to help him put the deer in the largest freezer sans the humongous antlers so the meat wouldn't start to rot before clothes started flying off. 

"Like you minded that." Jean mumbled, muffled with the foam in his mouth. He leaned over and started rinsing out his mouth. As he was spitting out, he felt a warm half naked body drape over his back and large hands grip his slender hips. Marco pressed his own hips flush against Jean and slowly ground his rapidly swelling cock against Jean's ass.

"I definitely don't mind it." Marco purred into Jean's ear. Tingles of pleasure ran up Jean's spine. "You're just mad cause now we have to wait for it to thaw."

Jean finished rinsing his mouth, but stayed bent over. Resting his forearms on the counter on either side of the sink, he ground his ass back against Marco. "Fuck you..." He mumbled. 

Marco chuckled into his ear. "How about I fuck you?" He suggested. Jean moaned at that idea. Marco nipped down the column of Jean's neck to his shoulder. "I've missed you."

"It's only been three days you dork." Jean groaned as Marco pushed into him harder. One hand slid from his hip around to his front.

"Too long..." Marco muttered as he drove his hand down the front of Jean's boxers. Jean cried out as his dick was enveloped by Marco's warm hand.  
Marco began with a slow rhythm, sliding his hand up and down with a loose grip. As he ground his clothed dick against Jean's ass, he mouthed along his neck and shoulder. Jean tilted his head to the side to give him more access, moaning desperately when he felt sharper than normal teeth dig into his shoulder.

"Hey...." Marco whispered into his ear. "Look at the mirror."

Jean opened his eyes half way, raising his blurry vision to the mirror in front of him. The sight that greeted him made him moan out a long curse. Behind him Marco was grinning lecherously, sharp canines on full display. His fluffy black ears stood at attention on the top of his head. Jean caught the movement of Marco's tail behind him, slowly swaying back and forth with the movement of their grinding hips. At the same time, he also saw Marco's hand shifting around inside his boxers as he stroked him higher and higher."Oh 

God... Oh shit... Fuck... Fuck yes..." Jean moaned out as Marco began to speed up. Jean griped the sides of the counter and held on tightly as he was shoved against the edge over and over. Marco's heavy breaths and moans matched in time with Jean's.

"Come on love, I've got you..." Marco encouraged, speeding up his hand, spreading Jean's precum over his own cock. A few more quick pumps had Jean arching back, moaning Marco's name out loud as he spilled inside his boxers and over Marco's hand. Marco pumped him through his orgasm, milking him as much as he could. 

Marco moved his slicked hand back to Jean's hip when he felt him shudder and sigh, signaling he was finished. He griped the slim hips in his hands, pulling them back against himself faster as he chased his own release. Jean sluggishly reached up behind him, gripping Marco's dark hair and pulled his head down towards his exposed neck. Marco happily obliged, sinking his teeth into the meat of Jean's neck as his own orgasm overcame him. His nails and teeth dug into the skin in his grip as he rode it out, smearing cum in his pants.

When he finally stilled, he stayed plastered against Jean's back, enjoying the after glow for the moment. He wrapped his arms around Jean's waist and sighed happily and satiated for the moment, nuzzling his nose into his neck. He felt his boyfriend sigh and begin to straighten up, even with Marco still koala'd to his back.

"Ugh, we're all dirty again." Jean groaned.

"Like you minded that." Marco parroted Jean's earlier words. He received a snort in return. "Hmm.. How about we take our clothes off, and then go for round two and three? Since we're already dirty that is." Marco suggested, grinning.

Jean snorted a laugh and lightly shoved Marco off of him. "You horndog."  
Marco grinned at him as they both started to peel off their soiled clothes. 

"Woof." He said simply, his tail wagging happily.

Sometime later, Jean tiredly pried his eyes half open when the knocking started. Determined to ignore it like usual, he buried his face back in his pillow. Only, the knocking seemed louder than normal...and less like knocking and more like banging... And it seemed to be getting closer... And was that the sun peeking out from his blinds?

"Oh... Shit." He mumbled just before his bedroom door slammed open and chaos ensued.

At the same time Hitch yelled about Jean being a lazy bitch, Marco bolted up in bed, already on the defensive. Jean definitely knew his claws and teeth would be out. He just pulled his pillow over his head as the screeching started.

***  
An hour later found them all down in the kitchen. Hitch and Jean sat at the table while Marco fried up some bacon and eggs.

"So let me get this straight." Hitch began. Jean sighed and took a long swig of his coffee. "Marco is that kid we used to play with in the woods that nobody else knew about." She raised one hand, as if weighing the statement against the other points. She raised her other hand to match the first one as she kept speaking. "He's actually not human though. And he took care of Mom while she was sick. Now you guys are dating..." She trailed off for a moment, putting both hands together and laying them on the table. Jean could only nod. "Huh. I didn't think you'd be into furries."

"Hitch!" Jean groaned. "He's not a furry!"

"I'm a familiar! That's completely different." Marco piped up as he finished plating breakfast. Carrying all three plates, he joined the siblings at the table.

"I don't see the difference, but moving on... Why didn't you tell me yesterday I was trying to beat your boyfriend?" Hitch asked as they all began to dig into the food.

"It wasn't the right time."

"So finding you guys butt naked in bed this morning was the right time?"

Jean pointed his egg laden fork at Hitch. "That was your fault!"

"I'm sorry you guys fucked each other stupid last night and forgot to set an alarm. And charge your phone. I did try calling multiple times."

"Ugh, whatever. Just eat your food."

***  
"Okay, talk to me love." Marco said from his perch on the rocks. Jean sighed, simply floating in the water.Marco was attuned to reading Jean's emotions, especially the ones he liked to hide and pretend didn't exist. A few hours after breakfast found the shape shifter pulling his boyfriend aside to suggest they take a break from the work. He could feel Jean's emotions begin to burn. So to cool him off, Marco had brought him to the little lake that was hidden on the property. Jean knew it was useless hiding anything from Marco.

"I'm still mad she never told us. I know it's been over a year, but I still feel..." He drifted off, raising his hands and slapping the surface of the water.

"Angry?" Marco quietly supplied.

"Yes! That and..." Jean stopped floating and stood on the rocky bottom, body half turned away from Marco. "Kind of resentful. Of you. You got to see her up until the end. I really thought I was over this... That I had moved on and was okay. But the last few days with Hitch and going through all her stuff just brought all this back. You were there for her when it should have been us. I should have come back"

Marco looked sad, his ears drooping. "She wanted it that way... She didn't want to take either of you away from the lives you were having."

And she had. Jean knew his mother well enough to know that was the absolute truth. Sophie Kirstein had been a fiercely independent woman. Determined, loving, and very skilled at keeping the things that go bump in the night at bay. She had survived the love of her life 'going out for cigarettes' and never coming back. She had raised two children by herself, and sacrificed so much for them. He just wished she had told him so he could give back to her at the end. So that he could thank her for evening and tell her he loved her one more time.

Tears welled up in Jean's eyes and he began to sniffle. He buried his face in his hands as a cry tore through his throat. "I just miss her so much."   
Jean heard a splash and immediately warm arms wrapped around him. Marco guided his head to his shoulder, where Jean buried his face there and clung to him. Shudders wracked his body as he mourned the loss of his mother again. Marco simply held him, running a hand lightly through Jean's short hair. Birds sang in the forest around them, creating a strange yet soothing lullaby. In a short amount of time Marco felt the shaking slow, then stop, as Jean finished crying. 

"I'm not mad at you for being with her in the end." He mumbled into Marco's freckled shoulder. "Thank you for helping her..."

Marco shrugged the shoulder not occupied. "It's what I do."

Jean shook his head and lifted it off the shoulder. He quickly rubbed at red rimmed eyes. "You do so much more than that and you know it." He threaded his fingers through dark locks and gently tilted Marco's head down. "I love you..." He whispered to the air between them before pressing his lips to Marco's in a gentle kiss.

Marco broke the kiss and laid his forehead against Jean's. " I love you too. I have for so, so long."

Jean smiled and rested his head back down on Marco's shoulder. "Thank you for being patient with me." He could feel the matching smile Marco pressed against the top of his head.

"Always Jean. But come on, let's finish this out of the water."   
Jean agreed and followed him up the bank of the lake. Marco laid down on the towel they had bought and opened his arms up to invite Jean. He collapsed on top of his boyfriend, and together they curled around each other to bask in the sun while they dried off.

"Remember that tree house we had around here?" Jean asked while tracing slow patterns with Marco's freckles. He heard the other man grunt in acknowledgement, so he continued with his train of thought. "You used to tease me so much about climbing trees, so I built that to spite you. I don't know how that would have worked, but that was my reasoning behind it. I'm honestly surprised we didn't kill ourselves in that thing."

"Sophie put a charm on the wood so we wouldn't hurt ourselves."

Jean chuckled. "Of course she did..." He trailed off. He continued dragging his fingers over Marco's skin while he gathered his thoughts. Marco in turn drew his fingers through Jean's hair. When Jean began talking again, Marco stayed mostly quiet, only humming in the appropriate places.

"I know I already said this, but really, thank you for being patient with me. I know I'm not easy to get along with. And coming to terms with my mom's death hasn't been easy. Seeing Hitch pack up her things... It's just bringing back memories. And I wish I could have told her so much. I wish I could have told her about us."

"She knew I was in love with you when we were teenagers."

Jean startled. "What? Really?"

"Yup. But to be honest I don't think I hid it very well. Even my witch knew and she never met you. I think you were the only one that didn't know."

"I didn't even know I was gay until just before I left for college!" Marco chuckled while Jean grumbled. "I should've come home for a visit though. But I wanted to get out of this little town so bad." Jean lifted his upper body up, resting his forearms on Marco's chest as he looked down into his face. "I never told you that you were my gaywakening, did I?"

Marco, shocked, could only shake his head no.

"It honestly kinda scared me. It was the year before I left. I started thinking about you as more than a friend. But I never said anything to anyone. I was so scared of what Mom would say. And I didn't want to lose you. Although I ended up losing you anyway by just never coming back."

Marco brushed his hand through Jean's hair and cupped his cheek. "I'm here now. You didn't lose me. You found me."

Jean turned his head and kissed the palm at his cheek. "No, you found me. I was so lost when I came back after Mom died."

"You probably would have starved if it wasn't for me bringing you food. Though I'm still a little offended you didn't take the first couple of meals I brought you."

"They were dead animals!" Jean cried, circling his wrists where they lay on Marco's chest. "How was I supposed to know this scraggly dog that was bringing me freshly killed things was actually my childhood friend?"

"I'm not scraggly!" Marco cried back indignantly.

"Not now that you're eating properly! Please tell me mom fed you right?"

"Sophie would have walked all the way to my witches old house every night if I didn't stay and eat with her."

"Yeah that sounds like my mom." Jean agreed, sighing and flopping back down on top of Marco. Marco in turn wrapped his arms back around Jean's slender form.

"I know you're still hurting from your mom..." Marco began quietly. "But you're not alone. I'm here, Hitch is here. I know, even though she doesn't show it, she's hurting too. Maybe you two should actually talk?"

Jean mulled that over a moment. Neither sibling was great with expressing such vulnerable emotions like sadness unless they were at their breaking point. Jean had already reached that point about two months after he and Marco had started dating. 

Jean had found his mother's regular cookbook for baking. She had used it so often it seemed the smell from her old pies and cookies permeated the pages. Or she had charmed the book to smell like whatever recipe you turned to. He had turned to their favorite apple pie recipe when the smell hit him. The warm apples, gooey cinnamon, flaky crust... He would never see her baking, or cooking, ever again. No more warm omelettes to cheer him up, no more hugs, no more being called Jeanbo in her motherly yet firm voice.

Marco had come in soon after that to find Jean on the floor, crying hysterically and clutching the cookbook in his arms. Gently, over time, Marco had helped piece Jean back together, and had slightly filled the hole that Sophie had left. Sometimes Marco simply had to bring him up to the roof to look at the stars (Jean refused to climb trees 'at his age'). Other times he would have to resort to making Jean chase him by shifting into his four legged form and grab whatever Jean was fixated on. He would then run out of the house and into the woods with Jean giving chase. By the end of the silly game of chase, Jean would be crying, laughing, and panting all at once. But most importantly he would have been out of the dark headspace he had been in.

Over the months as the two grew close again, they filled the cracks in Jean's home and heart that Sophie left with pieces of each other. The life they were looking forward to building with each other grew until the day Jean finally felt ready to call Hitch and start to get rid of their mother's things.

A gentle tapping on his cheek brought him back into the present. Shaking the fog from his head he looked up into the soft brown eyes he had fallen in love with all over again.

"Maybe she and I can make mom's apple pie tomorrow." Jean said slowly. Marco grinned softly down at him, running his hand gently through short blonde locks.

"I think that would a good start for you two. I can go for a long run and give you two some more time alone."

"Not a three day run this time." Jean pouted.

Marco chuckled, happy that Jean was pulling himself out of his sadness quicker. "No, I'll come back tomorrow for dinner. We do have a deer to start breaking down. Some of it should be thawed enough." Jean grinned, giddy at the thought. "You're not jumping me in front of your sister!"

"Aww..." Jean pouted again. "And what did I tell you about reading my mind?"

Marco sighed, his eyes rolling to the sky. "For the last time, I can't read your mind. I read your emotions. And it's very loud and distinctive when you're horny, or getting there."

Jean grinned and wiggled his hips against Marco. "Like now you mean?"

"Okay now who's the horndog?" Marco grinned up at the love of his life as Jean threw a leg over Marco to straddle him. Jean leaned down while his grin turned lecherous.

"Woof..." He whispered before crushing his lips against Marco's soft ones.

Jean knew he had a ways to go before he was truly okay. But with Marco at his side, guiding him in magick and in life, he knew he would be just fine.


End file.
